Luke’s tension vibrated in the air between them, making the hair rise along the back of Joey’s neck. She turned away and strode from the tavern, knowing Luke was hard on her heels.
As the door closed behind them, Joey did not give Luke the satisfaction of a confrontation. She charged grimly across the street and headed back for the lodge as Luke kept pace in silence, a burning and implacable presence. It was only when they reached the vicinity of the lodge that Joey felt sufficiently in control of herself to face him.
“I thought the plan was to forget you ever existed,” Joey mocked quietly as she spun to a halt. “You made yourself fairly clear. I thought I was doing a pretty good job.”
The expected reaction didn’t come. He merely looked at her without the remotest hint of desire or threat or anger. The amber-green eyes hardly seemed focused on her at all.
“I’m here to do what I said I’d do. Nothing more. I’ll guide you into the mountains and get you back. Then you’ll be free to leave.”
The utter chill in his voice, as impersonal as if there had never been anything but business between them, penetrated even Joey’s determined façade.
“I see. You’ve decided to help me after all. Is this decision subject to sudden reversals like the others?”
The taunt came out even when she tried to halt the flow of words; he stiffened almost imperceptibly. If his pride had been touched at all by her barb, he did not reveal it beyond that sudden tension and the merest flicker of his eyes.
“I give you my word that I’ll get you where you need to go, and back again.”
“In return for what? You’ve said before you don’t need money. What do you want from me?” She searched the distance of his pale eyes for some flicker of passion, anything to hint that he still wanted her the way he had before their second disastrous attempt at lovemaking.
His voice was almost a whisper. “That’s simple enough ” He gazed up, beyond her, to the pale unreachable swathe of stars overhead. “When you have what you want, you leave. You never come back here again.”
Chapter Eight
Joey felt herself trembling at his words. She refused to acknowledge the deep pang of loss, the utter hopelessness that came with his offer. After everything else she had done to reach her goal, this was little enough to give up. And she’d be forever free of the unsettling enigma of Luke Gévaudan.
Looking up to catch his eyes, Joey nodded with slow deliberation. “All right If that’s what you want But it seems unfair to you, after all, since I’ll be getting all the advantage out of the arrangement.”
Her final remark did not seem to affect him more than any of the others, he folded his arms in front of his chest and studied her calmly.
“I don’t think so.”
He held her gaze for a moment and then looked away again, toward the lodge. “If it’s agreed, then there’s no point in wasting time. There are things to be arranged and planned if we’re to leave as soon as possible.”
“I’ve done most of the planning already, as it happens,” Joey countered. “I think you’ll find everything in order.”
“That’s what I intend to find out.” Without warning Luke began to walk toward the lodge, forcing Joey to jog a few steps to match his long stride. “Nothing can be left to chance. I want this to be as uncomplicated as possible .
“Excellent,” Joey snapped. “Then we’re in perfect agreement.”
Luke did not answer as he bounded up the steps to the front door and flung it open. Trailing after, Joey was secretly relieved to see that the last late diners were gone, and she and Luke were able to make their way up to her room without suffering a single accusatory glare. None of that should matter anymore, just as her relationship—such as it was—with Luke was of no further significance.
Moving to lay out her maps on the bed, Joey paused as Luke scanned the room and its contents, dismissing all of it but the pile of equipment in the corner.